| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-549 |
| Ordered: | 5 June 1941 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Werft, Hamburg |
| Yard number: | 370 |
| Laid down: | 28 September 1942 |
| Launched: | 28 April 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 14 July 1943 |
| Fate: | Sunk, 29 May 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Type IXC/40 submarine |
| Displacement: | 1,120 t (1,100 long tons) surfaced 1,232 t (1,213 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 76.8 m (252 ft 0 in) o/a 58.7 m (192 ft 7 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 6.9 m (22 ft 8 in) o/a 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 9.6 m (31 ft 6 in) |
| Draft: | 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × MAN M9V40/46 supercharged 9-cylinder diesel engines, 4,400 hp (3,281 kW) 2 × SSW GU345/34 double-acting electric motors, 1,000 hp (746 kW) |
| Speed: | 19 knots (35 km/h) surfaced 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h) submerged |
| Range: | 25,620 nmi (47,450 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) surfaced 117 nmi (217 km) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) submerged |
| Test depth: | 230 m (750 ft) |
| Complement: | 48 to 56 |
| Armament: | • 6 × torpedo tubes (4 bow, 2 stern) • 22 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedoes • 1 × Utof 105 mm/45 deck gun (110 rounds) • AA guns |
| Service record[1][2] | |
| Part of: | 4th U-boat Flotilla (14 July–31 December 1943) 10th U-boat Flotilla (1 January–29 May 1944) |
| Commanders: | Kptlt. Detlev Krankenhagen (14 July 1943–29 May 1944) |
| Operations: | 1st patrol: 11 January–26 March 1944 2nd patrol: 14–29 May 1944 |
| Victories: | 1 warship sunk (9,393 GRT) 1 warship damaged (1,300 GRT) |
German submarine U-549 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 28 September 1942 at the Deutsche Werft yard at Hamburg, launched on 28 April 1943, and commissioned on 14 July 1943 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Detlev Krankenhagen. After training with 4th U-boat Flotilla at Stettin, on 1 January 1944 the U-boat was transferred to 10th U-boat Flotilla for front-line service.[1]
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U-549 departed Kiel on 11 January 1944, and sailed out into the mid-Atlantic on patrol, but had no successes. The U-boat arrived at Lorient on 26 March after 76 days at sea.[3]
The U-boat left Lorient on 14 May 1944 and sailed to the waters north-west of Canary Islands.[4] At 20:13 on 29 May 1944, U-549 slipped through the anti-submarine screen of the hunter-killer group TG 21.11, and fired three T-3 torpedoes at the escort carrier USS Block Island, hitting her with two, and sinking the ship.[5] At 20.40 hours the U-boat fired a salvo of T-5 acoustic torpedoes, badly damaging the destroyer escort Barr (DE-576), and missing the Eugene E. Elmore (DE-686).[6] A counter-attack with depth charges was launched by Ahrens (DE-575) and Eugene E. Elmore which sank the U-boat, in position . All 57 hands were lost.[1]
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